The U.S. needs support and "cooperation of the patriotic Muslim Americans" to help prevent radical Islamic terrorist attacks in this country, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, told CBS’ Jim DeFede on "Facing South Florida" this week.

"It's not about spying on law-abiding people," the former presidential candidate told DeFede. "It's about being able to get ahead of a plot before it happens.

"I do believe that we need to do more work, including in the Muslim American community — to identify radicalism, and to fight against it. And we'll need the cooperation of the patriotic Muslim Americans, and there are many."

Rubio, who is running in Florida for reelection for this Senate seat, cited the shooting at an Orlando gay club this year as an example of how Muslim Americans can help — and have — intelligence and law enforcement officials.

"One of the reasons why the killer, the terrorist in Orlando, came under FBI's radar is because a gentleman at the Islamic center he was attending tipped the FBI off to him, so there's no doubt that there are," Rubio told DeFede.

"… But the biggest thing we can do is to take out the ability of groups like [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] to have a core of operation anywhere in the world, because it is from Mosul, it is from Raqqa, where they have their core operation that allows them to disseminate propaganda, which, in the end, is what causes and inspires people around the world to take action against us."

The U.S. needs support and cooperation of the patriotic Muslim Americans to help prevent radical Islamic terrorist attacks in this country, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, told CBS' Jim DeFede on Facing South Florida this week. It's not about spying on law-abiding people, ...